Abirl 2009 / April 2009

Lunes 6 de abril de 2009.-- Abril ha sido un mes de contrastes, primero tuvimos las vacaciones de semana santa, y eso nos afecta de cierta manera porque muchos aprovechan para ir de vacaciones con la familia y hay ausentismo en la iglesia, aproximadamente nos reunimos unas 280 a 300 personas cada domingo, durante esos días baja como a 200 o a veces menos.

Monday April the 6th- April has been a contrasting month, 1st we had the “Holly Week” (our form of spring break), this affects the attendance of the congregation because a lot of the members go on vacation so we have les people during church services. Usually we have about 280 to 300 people for service each Sunday, during this time of the year we have about 200 or even less people.

Viernes 17 de abril.-- Tuvimos dos bautizos, uno de ellos es Rafael. Rafa es amigo de nuestro hermano Merced, él se dedica también a vender zapatos. Merced estuvo estudiando con Rafa durante algunos meses, hablando casi cada tres días con él sobre su situación espiritual y por fin, después de una plática que tuvimos el día del cumpleaños de Lolita, esposa de Merced, Rafa decidió ser bautizado. La otra persona es esposa de un hermano llamado Erwin, ella se llama Irene, tenía ya algunos meses de asistir a los servicios acompañando a Erwin y este día tomo la decisión de ser bautizada.

Friday April the 17th- we had 2 baptisms, one of them was a friend of Merced, his name is Rafael and he is also in the Shoe sale business. Merced had been studding with Rafa for several months. Merced talked to Rafa almost every other day about his spiritual life and what he need to do. And finally after a chat we had at Lolitas birthday party, wife of Merced, Rafa decided to get baptized. The other person was Irene, wife of our brother Erwin. Irene had been coming to church for several months and finally made the decision to get baptized.

Domingo 19 de abril.-- Nos visitó nuestro hermano Fernando Arroyo, Fernando y su esposa Tony están trabajando en San Miguel de Allende, ellos son dos egresados del ILEB. Fernando vino a predicar ese día, habló del tema de ser Atalaya, nos hizo reflexionar sobre la necesidad de ser atalaya a toda la gente que no conoce del Señor. Su visita obedece a una serie de predicaciones de corte evangelístico, fue muy buena su plática y nos animó muchísimo.

Sunday April the 19th- we had the visit of our brother Fernando Arroyo and his wife Tony. They are working in San Miguel de Allende. They are graduates from ILEB. Fernando came to preach about being “Watchman” and made us reflect about the need that it is to be “watchman” for all of those that know the Lord. We invited him to peach because we’ve been having a series of preaching’s related to this topic. It was a great sermon and it encouraged the whole congregation.

Lunes 20 de abril.—Me enfermé ese día, me dio fiebre y tos. Hablé con mi médico para saber que tomar, me mandó medicina y la sorpresa fue que el viernes 24 nos enteramos sobre la epidemia que se estaba registrando en México. Ese mismo día, nuestra hija Alin nos dijo que se sentía mal, antes de que se pusiera peor, hablamos con el doctor y nos fue a visitar, él es un hermano de la iglesia, se llama Luis Enrique, nos visitó y nos dio medicina, nos dijo que no tenía nada que ver con la enfermedad que se estaba propagando, pero que era bueno empezar a cuidarse y atenderse...

Monday April the 20th- I had fever and a little cough, so I talk to the doctor and he prescribed me some things. To my surprise on Friday the 24th we found out about the swine flu. That same day our daughter Alin told us that she was feeling sick as well. Before anything else happened we called the doctor, who is a brother from the church, and he went to see us at home and prescribed other things for us and assured us that our sickness had nothing to do with the swine flu.

29 de abril.-- Al final del mes ya es muy conocido lo que pasa en el mundo, pero nosotros estamos confiando que Dios tiene todo bajo control, no dejamos de orar al Señor, incluso hicimos una compromiso como congregación de orar todos los días a las 7:00 p.m. por esta situación. Pedimos que se unan a nuestra oración y pidamos a Dios que se acabe esta epidemia. Que el Señor los bendiga.

April the 29th- By the end of the month the news about the swine flu are known globally, but we are trusting that God has everything under control. We keep on praying about all of this and as a congregation we decided to pray every day at 7pm for this epidemic. And we ask you to pray with us. May Go bless you.

En Cristo Jesús
Roberto y Bety Zepeda

Marzo 2009 / March 2009

8 de Marzo. -- Nos reunimos en casa de Erasmo Valencia para convivir y agradecer a Felipe Barranco y a su familia, (Isabel y Andrea), todo el tiemp que han estado sirviendo en diferentes ministerios en la Iglesia. Ellos se encargaban de preparar la Cena del Señor y de ser anfitriones, además de muchas otras cosas en las que apoya, por ejemplo, Isabel sirve como maestra para las mujeres en el ILEB, Andrea está dando clase a los niños de 11 a 13 años y Felipe siempre ha sido un siervo muy entregado. La familia Barranco decidió dejar un rato el ministerio de prepaprar la Cena del Señor y ser anfitriones, ya llevaban algunos años haciendolo, y tomar un desacanso.

March 8th, we had the opportunity to fellowship with Erasmo Valencia and the Barranco family. We used this time to thank Felipe, Isabel and Andrea Barranco for all the time they’ve spent serving the Lord through the different ministries they had under they charge. They used to fix the Lord’s Supper; they were the greeters every Sunday morning, besides many other things. Isabel is still one of the women’s teachers for ILEB, Andrea is been teaching Sunday morning class for kids that are 11 to 13th years old. Felipe has always been a faithful servant. The Barranco family decided to take a brake from being the Greeters and preparing the Lords Supper.

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Estabamos en esa reunión cuando recibí una llamada de nusetra querida hermana Chely, pidiendome que fuera a orar con su tía, quien estaba a punto de fallecer, al hospital, ese día fui y oramos con la familia de Chely porque no pude entrar a ver a su tía ya que estaba en la sla de cuidados intensivos....

I was in a meeting when I got a call from our dear sister Chely, asking me to go pray for her aunt, who was about to die in the Hospital. I went and prayed with Chely and her family at the waittign room. Chely’s aunt was in the area of intensive care, therefore, I couldn’t get inside to pray directly with her.

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12 de Marzo de 2009. --Este día recibí un mensaje en mi celular de Chely, en donde me decía que su tía ya había fallecido, pero al mismo tiempo me dió otra noticia, "que su suegro, el papá de otro querido hermano, Pepe Franco, esposo de nusetra querida hermana Chelo Franco, también había fallecido".

March 12th, I got a message from Chely telling me that her aunt past away and at the same time she told me her father in low (who is the father of another one of our dear brothers Pepe Franco) past away as well.

Chely, Chelo, Pepe y Edith, el día del bautizo de ellas.

Paco y Chelo, el día del bautizo de él.

Pepe en un convivio en su casa

Chelo y Pepe, (madre e hijo) son dos muy queridos hermanos de la Iglesia, ellos han apoyado mucho a la Iglesia sobre todo cuando la iglesia iniciaba. Su casa nos sirvió como lugar para nuestros convivios, allí jugabamos Volibol, los niños montaban a caballo, los llebaban al río, comíamos en un ambiente de una gran familia, es tal la confianza con ellos, que incluso el año pasado que se casó mi hija Josely, ellos nos prestaron su casa (Pepe y Wendy), para realizar allí la boda. PAco, también fue bautizado en el 2004.

Chelo and Pepe (mother and son) are tow of our dear brothers in Christ, they have been a great support since the beginning of this congregation. They’re house was the place to meet for our potlucks, where we played volleyball, where our kids used to ride horses, played at a near by river, where we all ate with joy in our hearts. We’re so close to them that last year my daughter Joselyn had her wedding at Pepe’s house. Paco (another one of Chelo’s sons) was baptized on 2004.

Por su puesto que conocíamos perfectamente al Lic Carlos Franco, esposo de Chelo, y a toda su familia. Ellos son cinco hijos: Alejandro, Carlos, José (Pepe), Francisco (Paco) y Mauricio, ahora todos ellos están casados, menos Paco.

We knew Mr. Carlos Franco (the dad) as well as their whole family. Carlos and Chelo had five sons: Alejandro, Carlos, Pepe and Mauricio, now all of them are married except for Paco.

En la Iglesia sentimos mucho la tristesa de nuestros queridos hermanos, más porque Don Carlos, nunca quiso obedecer el evangelio.

As a congregation we are really sorry that the Franco family is going through this lost, specially because Mr. Franco didn’t obey they Lord.

En Cristo Jesús

In Christ
Roberto y Bety Zepeda

Febrero 2009 / February 2009

El 4 de febrero me hablaron por teléfono diciéndome que orara mucho por Eliseo y Verónica, ellos estuvieron en Toluca y fueron estudiantes de la primera generación del ILEB, después de graduarse se fueron a trabajar a Cozumel, y después, la iglesia de Cozumel, los mandó a trabajar a Poza Rica, Veracruz..., La llamada fue de Isabel Sánchez, hermana carnal Verónica, pidiéndonos que oráramos por ellos porque habían recibido una amenaza de extorsión, estuvimos orando y el domingo 8, ¿cuál fue la sorpresa?, que al llegar a la reunión, Eliseo y su familia estaban aquí en Toluca... Los recibimos con mucho gusto pero al mismo tiempo preocupados por que tuvieron que salir de Poza Rica por las amenazas en su contra. Los hermanos de allá los sacaron y les dijeron: “Váyanse, cuando sea seguro regresar, nosotros les decimos”. Les pedimos que oren por ellos para que puedan regresar a su casa y no sufran a manos de los delincuentes.

On February the 4th I got a phone call telling me to pray for our brothers Eliseo and Veronica, they used to work here and they were students of ILEB, they were part of the 1st graduating generation. After graduating they left to work in Cozumel, and from there they went Poza Rica, Veracruz, where they currently work. Isabel Sanchez, Veronica’s sister, called us asking that we pray for Eliseo and Veronica, because they had gotten a threat of extortion. We were praying and on Sunday the 8th Eliseo and Veronica, for our surprise they were here with us for worship services. They were very welcome but we were a little worried, because they had to leave Poza Rica due to more threats to their lives. The brothering from Poza Rica got them out of there and said: “Go, we’ll tell you when is safe to come back”. We ask that you’ll be praying for them, so that theyc an go back to their home and that they don’t have to suffer in the hands of these people.

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12 de Febrero, una hermana, parte de nuestra célula, Ivonn Alcántara, cambió su residencia a Toronto, Canadá. Ella se fue para allá para estudiar inglés y darse una oportunidad de conocer otros lugares del mundo y experimentar el viajar.

February the 12th our sister Ivonne Alcantara, she’s a part of our cell group, decided to move to Toronto, Canada. She wants to study English and give her self the opportunity of visiting other places and learning about other cultures.

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13 de Febrero, invitamos a Eliseo y Vero a nuestra célula, Eliseo dio la clase, fue muy animante, habló que en la Biblia es muy claro ver lo que es mundano y lo que es espiritual, que hay que dejar lo mundano para enfocarnos solo en lo espiritual.

February the 13th we invited Eliseo and Veronica to our cell group. Eliseo taught the class, which was very interesting, he talked about how it’s very clear with the bible to see what’s mundane and what’s spiritual and how we should focus on what is spiritual and leave behind all that is mundane.

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18 de febrero, recibí un correo de Ivonn, la chica que se fue a Canadá, dice que está muy contenta; desde antes de irse ella contactó a los hermanos de la Iglesia en Toronto, y ahora le han pedido que les ayude a evangelizar a los hispanos que hay por aquella área... Estas son unas de sus palabras: “Saludame por favor a todos los de la celula y diles que los extraño mucho, que les mando un abrazo, y que si en algo tienen que confiar en esta vida es “en Dios” y eso lo debemos de demostrar dando pasos de Fe”.

February 18th I got an e-mail from Ivonne, the girl that moved to Canada. She told me that she’s very happy. Before departing Ivonne got in touch with the Church in Toronto and they asked her to help them to evangelize the Hispanics there. She said: “please tell everyone on the cell group that I say Hello, that I miss them, I send them a big hug and that if they have to trust something that is GOD, and only in Him we should place our faith”.

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22 de febrero, En la clase dominical ya van tres domingos con este, que estamos hablando sobre el tema de los ancianos, en la congregación estamos orando todos los días a las 7:00 p.m., por dos propósitos especificos, 1). Porque podamos establecer ancianos en esta congregación y 2). Porque en este 2009 podamos iniciar una nueva obra aquí en Toluca...

February the 22nd, for Sunday morning class we’ve been talking about Elders, this is our 3rd Sunday. We’ve also been praying at 7pm as a congregation for 2 specific things: 1) so that we can have elders in our congregation soon and 2) so that we can plant another church here in Toluca this 2009.

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Pedimos se sumen a nuestras oraciones por estos dos propósitos y que incluyan en sus oraciones a Eliseo y Verónica, Alejandra Ivonn y no olviden a mi y a mi familia.

En Cristo Jesús
Roberto Zepeda y Familia

Please pray for this 2 purposes, for Eliseo and Veronica and for Ivonne. Continue praying for my family and I as well.

In Jesus Christ
The Zepeda’s

Reporte Semanal / Weekly Report

• El 11 de enero se bautizó Edgar Valle Castillo, él es un joven que tenía cerca de un año asistiendo cada domingo, venía acompañando a su novia, Guillermina González, ahora su esposa, y cuando nos hablaron de su posible boda, Raúl y yo hablamos con él sobre la primera decisión que tenía que tomar, la de ser bautizado. Un domingo antes de casarse, decidió bautizarse y entregar su vida al Señor.

On January the 11th Edgar Valle Castillo got baptized. He’s a young man that had been visiting for a about a year. He was coming with his girlfriend Guillermina González, who is now his wife. When both of them talked to Raul and I about wanting to get married, we talked to Edgar about the most important decision he had to make, which was to be baptized. The Sunday before getting married Edgar decided to get baptized and give his life to the Lord.

• El 17 de enero, se casaron Edgar y Guille, ella es la más chica de una familia 7 hermanos, tres varones y cuatro mujeres. Todos ellos son cristianos, Guille, era la única soltera en la familia. Sus papás también fueron convertidos, su mamá se bautizó un poco antes de fallecer, hace como 5 o 6 años. Algunos años después, para ser exactos el año pasado, su papá, Nicolás fue bautizado. Nuestro hermano Nicolás acaba de fallecer el 31 de enero, quince días después de que entregó a su última hija en el altar (QPD).
  

On January the 17th Edgar and Guille got married. She’s the youngest of 7 brothers and sisters. Her whole family is Christian, and she was the only one that was single. Her mom got baptized a little before dying about 5 or 6 years ago. Then last year her dad, Nicolas was baptized. Our dear brother Nicolas past away on the 31st of January, only 15 days after he gave away his last daughter in marriage.

• El 22 y 23 de enero, asistí a la reunión de la asociación religiosa a la que pertenecemos, fuimos un total de 100 congregaciones las que estuvimos representadas en la XVII Asamblea General de la Iglesia de Cristo. En estas asambleas se tocan los aspectos legales, fiscales y contables con los que tenemos que cumplir como iglesia para cumplir con la ley establecida por el gobierno mexicano.
  

On the 22nd and 23rd of January I attended the reunion of Religious associations, held every year here in Mexico. There were about 100 congregations represented in the 17th General Assembly of Churches of Christ. In this reunions we talk about the legal and financial processes that we have to get done to do everything according to the law here in Mexico.

• El jueves 29 de enero, tuvimos junta con los maestros del ILEB, ahí se les informó de algunos cambios que estamos teniendo. Estamos re-estructurando la forma de trabajar. Esta es la tercera junta que tenemos desde que inició el ciclo escolar en agosto del año pasado. Todos en el ILEB estamos entusiasmados con los cambios y dispuestos a seguir adelante.
  

On Thursday the 29th of January, we had a meeting with the ILEB teachers, and we informed everyone about some of the changes we’re making. We are trying to restructure the way we work in ILEB. This is the 3rd meeting we’ve had since the beginning of the school year. We’re all very exited about the changes and willing to keep on working.

• El 31 de enero, estaba con mi familia comiendo cuando recibí un mensaje sobre la muerte de Nicolás González Montes, como ya dije, él fue el padre de estos siete hermanos, 5 de ellos asisten a la congregación de Toltecas en el D:F, y Guille y Rigo, su hermano, asisten con nosotros en Toluca. Nicolás desde que se bautizó no faltó a los servicios a no ser por causa de fuerza mayor. Le sobreviven 16 nietos y 7 hijos.

January the 31st, I was with my family eating lunch when I got a message letting me know about the death of Nicolas Gonzalez, like I mention before. He was the father of 7, five of those children are a part of the Toltecas congregation in Mexico city. Guile and Rigo, her brother, are a part of our congregation, here in Toluca. Ever since Nicolas got baptized, never missed a Sunday unless he was ill. He was survived by 16 grand children and 7 children.

• El 4 de febrero se habló con los alumnos del instituto para mencionarles las cosas que estamos haciendo y las implicaciones que tendrá para ellos estos cambios. Por el momento son 36 alumnos en los tres niveles de estudio en Toluca, además de los alumnos que están estudiando en Monterrey, San Miguel de Allende, CD Victoria, Distrito Federal., Cuautitlán, Córdoba, Celaya, Guanajuato y en la República de Panamá.
  

On the 4th of February we had a meeting with the ILEB students to talk about the changes we’re making and what does that mean for them. Right now we have 36 students in between all the levels here in Toluca. Besides the students in Monterrey, San Miguel de Allende, Cd. Victoria, Mexico City, Cuautitlan, Cordoba, Celaya, Guanajuato and in Panama.

Primer Viaje Misionero de los Jóvenes de la Iglesia en Toluca

En el mes de julio viajamos 20 personas a Odessa, Tx, con el fin de ir a trabajar en diferentes proyectos ayudando a ancianos y viudas de la iglesia. Este viaje fue muy significativo por lo que representa. Los jóvenes de Toluca juntaron sus propios recursos para realizar el viaje por tierra. 18 hora de manejo, dos días para llegar, pero todos muy felices de poder contribuir un poco al reino de nuestro Señor.

Este viaje fue importante también porque tradicionalmente son grupos de los EE.UU. los que viajan a otras partes, como México, para ir y ayudar a la iglesia. Los hermanos de Odessa vienen a Toluca cada dos años, y ahora nosotros fuimos a colaborar con ellos. Pintamos la fachada de la iglesia Hispana, los pasillos de la Escuela Cristiana, casa de viudas, construimos el techo de una bodega, etc. La televisión y el periódico local nos entrevistaron, fue algo maravilloso.

1st Youth Mission Trip

On July 20 of us traveled to Odessa, Tx. The purpose of our trip was to work on different projects, helping out the elderly and widows form the congregation. This was a pretty meaningful trip. The youth group worked and race their own funds to be able to make this trip happen. We drove 18 hours, two days, to get to Odessa. Not minding the extremely long trip, we all were glad to help out and work for God.

This trip was really meaningful, because usually groups form USA come to different parts of Mexico to help the church, but this time we went to help them. Every other year the brothers from Odessa come to help us, now we went to help them. We painted the outside of the Hispanic church, we painted the hallways of the Christian School, we fixed widows houses, we build the ruff of the storage, etc. We even got interviewed by the local news and the paper. Everything was wonderful.

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Graduación del ILEB

El 28 de junio tuvimos la graduación de la VIII Generación del ILEB, dos hermanas del programa FEBE fueron las graduadas en esta ocasión, ellas son Reyna Sánchez y Alejandra Maqueda.

El ILEB está funcionando a todo vapor..., tenemos a la fecha 30 alumnos en los tres niveles de estudio incluyendo el programa FEBE en Toluca, además de 105 alumnos en los 12 Centros de Estudio con los que estamos trabajando. En estas fechas se han abierto dos Centros de estudios en León y Celaya, en el Estado de Guanajuato.

ILEB’s Graduation

On June 28th we had the 8th Graduation of the ILEB. Two sisters from the FEBE program graduated this time, their names are Reyna Sanchez and Alejandra Maqueda.
ILEB is working very well, we have 30 students in all 3 levels, including the ones on the FEBE program, and this is just here in Toluca. We also have 105 students in the 12 Study Centers around the country. We recently open 2 more centers, one in Leon, and another in Celaya, both of them in the state of Guanajuato.

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Misión “Rancho Avalancha”

Este fue un proyecto que se realizó en la ciudad de Guanajuato, asistimos un total de 38 hermanos de 6 diferentes congregaciones para llevar a cabo la “Escuela Bíblica de Verano” a donde asistieron como 140 niños, Esta misión se llamó “Rancho Avalancha”, fue un trabajo multi-congregacional, El trabajo no fue fácil, la mayoría de los niños no eran de la iglesia, solo unos 15 niños pertenecían a la congregación, todos los demás fueron visitantes.

Es muy hermoso y muy gratificante trabajar con los niños, ellos son personitas abiertas, sin prejuicios, transparentes, siempre te dicen la verdad aunque sea muy cruel, pero todos los que pudimos colaboran en esta misión podemos decir que es una de las experiencias más hermosas que hemos tenido.

A raíz de esta experiencia, la congregación local ha crecido y esperamos en Dios que los frutos se den muy pronto. Ya se está estudiando con algunos de los padres de familia y personas que se involucraron llevando a sus hijos a la Escuela de Verano. Ofelia Salazar es la Directora del Jardín de Niños donde se tuvimos “Rancho Avalancha”, ella nos prestó las instalaciones de esa escuela. El “Jardín de Niños DOVALINA”, es una escuela oficial, y con el riesgo de tener problemas con las autoridades educativas de Guanajuato, dado que en México la educación es laica, Ofelia dijo que sí, ella sintió que Dios le dijo debes prestar la escuela. Su esposo le dijo, no va a pasar nada, esto es para Dios y la apoyó en su decisión. Toda la familia ha mostrado mucho interés en saber de la Palabra de Dios.

En esa semana tuvimos la bendición de presenciar la conversión de Charly, él fue uno de lo que vinieron para ayudar en “Rancho Avalancha”, fue bautizado en la alberca del hotel donde nos hospedábamos.

Bety Zepeda

“Avalanche Ranch” Mission Trip

This trip was in the city of Guanajuato, we had 38 workers from 6 different congregations. All of this to make the VBS called “Avalanche Ranch” possible. We had 140 kids that attended. This was a multi-congregational effort. The work wasn’t easy, most of the kids weren’t from the church, actually we only had 15 kids that were part of the congregation, and the rest were visitors.

It was wonderful to work with the kids, they are so open, they don’t judge you, they’re always transparent in their behavior, they always say the truth even when it hurts. All of us that were able to participate in this adventure can say that is was one of the most beautiful experiences we’ve ever had.

Due to this amazing work, the local congregation in Guanajuato has grown and we’re hopping and waiting in God that we can reap the fruits of there effort. There are already several bible studies with the parents of some of the kids that attended the VBS. Ofelila Salazar is the principal of the kinder garden were we had the “Ranch Avalanche” activities. The kinder garden “DOVALINA” is a public school, which means there is no religion or mention of God allowed in the school. Knowing this, the principal still took the risk of getting in trouble and allowed us to have the VBS. Ofelia told us that she felt like God told her, yes you should allowed this people to use the school for their project. Ofelia mention that her husband said “Nothing bad will happen, this is for God” so he was very supportive of her decision. Ofelia’s whole family has shown a lot of interest to study the word of God.

That week a guy named Charly got baptized. He was one of the helpers for “Avalanche Ranch”, and got baptized at the hotels swimming pool, where we stayed at.
Bety Zepeda

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17 Bautizados en lo que va del Año

En lo que va del año hemos tenido, gracias a Dios, 17 bautizados, sus nombres son: Iván, Ángel, Julianita, Brenda, Marlene, Kena, Maria, Rodolfo, Ever, Fernando, Evelin, Emmanuel, Rafael, Queta, Youdiel, Belén y Juan, este último está saliendo de un problema de alcoholismo, nuestro hermano Merced Tejeda, ha trabajado con Juan en su rehabilitación. Además hay muchas personas estudiando el evangelio, esperamos que pronto respondan al llamado de Dios.

17 Baptisms until now

This year we’ve had 17 baptisms thanks to God. They’re names are: Ivan, Angel, Julianita, Brenda, Marlene, Kena, Maria, Rodolfo, Ever, Fernando, Evelin, Emmanuel, Rafael, Queta, Youdiel, Belen and Juan. Juan has a problem with drinking and our brother Merced Tejeda is been working with him in his rehab. Besides all of this baptisms we have lots of people hearing the gospel, we hope and pray that soon they will make the decision to follow God’s word.

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Toluca News March - April 2008

Potluck in the Congregation

This year we decided to have 2 types of potluck in our congregation. Every 1st Sunday of the month we have potluck, so on the odd months we encourage the members of the congregation to invite other families to their house to fellowship together, the idea is to get to know each other better and be more and more like a family. On the even months we have potluck here in the church building.
March the 2nd we had out big potluck, we had lots of fun, games and our traditional volleyball tournament. The food was more than enough and it was the 1st time in a long time that there was food leftover. This helps us see that everyone was willing to help out and wanting to be there.

It was a real joy to see so many people sharing with each other and loving each other so much. We are looking forward our next potluck that will take place in the month of May.

Small Group

Our cell group keeps on growing and everyone is really happy to be able to be part of this group and to be able to know each person in a deeper level.

The fist Sunday of April we had out potluck as a small group and we celebrated the birthday of Graciela and Lolita, to of our faithful sisters that come to our small group every week. The celebration took place at Merced and Lolita’s.

We have a new member in our small group, her name is Jessica Villaseñor. She’s been through a lot. She has 5 kids. Geovani who is 16 years old, Betsua who is 9 years old, Salma who is 6 years old, Galilea who is 5 years old and a baby boy Gabriel who is 2 years old. Right now Jessica and her kids are living with her mom, but she mention to us the other day that she needed her own place. She has an old house that has been abandoned fue a while. We all encourage her to go live in that house and arange all the paper work necesary so that she can continue paying for the house, and so that it wont be taken away from her because she hasnt payed it for a while. We all agreed on some thigns and we’re helping her fix the house so that she can live in it again. We ask for your prayers for her and the people in our small group.

We’re hoping to start a new school in Cuba

In the month of march I had the opportunity to go back and visit our dear brothers in Cuba for their IX Nation Wide Preacher’s Reunion, in the Havana. It lasted 3 day’s, the theme was “Christian Ethics.” More than 300 preachers gather in Havana at the Conference Center ORTOP, Frank País, from the 11th to the 13th of March.

After this I went to a city call Santa Clara, to spend a few days there with the brothering. Being there I had the oportunity to talk to seveal of them about ILEB. They all got really exited about starting this program. We talked about having 4 or 5 different groups that could start at the same time with the first classes called “overview of the bible”.

Due to the amount of material, we need to find a good way to help each student to get what they need. This class is divided in 6 different blocks, “Overview 1 to 6”. And for each block every student needs one manual, times 5 different groups with 10 students each. The cost of the material is high, they would have to make a lot copies, but the hunger of the church there encourages us to try to find a way to help them out and make this dream possible.

The approximate cost of the material for each block every 2 months is $100 dollars. This would cover the cost of a lacer printer, paper to print out the material and any special needs to star this project. As right now the brother Ramón Pérez del Prado said that ILEB can use his computer and lacer printer.

We ask for your prayers so that we can make this new project true in Cuba.

Activities Report form the Zepeda’s

My family and I send greetings and a big hug to all of you. We hope that this time is been filled with blessings. On this report I want to talk to you all about the trip I made to Cuba. I had the opportunity to go back and visit our dear brothers in Cuba for their IX Nation Wide Preacher’s Reunion, in the Havana.

I got to the Havana at midnight March the 10th; to my surprise no one was there to pick me up. The only thing I remembered was the name of the place where the Preachers Reunion took place last year, but I didn’t have the address. Thanks to God a taxi driver offered to take me to the hotel, and honestly at first I was worried and hesitated to take the services. I got to my hotel safely and the next day I found the place where the activities where taking place. This, as well as the rest of the days of the conferences, was great.

This time I was invited to attend the conferences, but not to teach, I also went as a reporter for the Christian Chronicle in Spanish. Therefore, I didn’t paid attention to the theme of the conferences. To my surprise this conferences were exactly what I needed at the time and hearing them helped me to recover and get out of a stage of depression that I had been in.

The theme was “Christian Ethics.” To start out they gave the definition of Ethics. Ethic talks about moral laws and the men’s duties. In other words it’s the “science of behavior.” Ethic’s becomes the code of rules and moral principles that rule behavior. Therefore, Christian Ethic’s are the rules and biblical principles in which we build our lives and our behavior. Every time I heard one of the conferences to my mind and heard came this thought: “The Word of God should be the one that rules us to know how to behave.”

After 3 very intense but edifying days, because I had the opportunity to talk to many of our brothers from Cuba, USA and Spain. I went with a group of them to a city call Santa Clara. It’s about 3 hours away from la Havana. We had to travel by “Guagua” like the call they’re busses. We arrived at the house of our brother Ramón Pérez del Prado, who is one of my reporters there in Cuba. The idea was to visit them and to see with my own eyes how is the church in Cuba, I had heard a lot about it but I wanted to see it with my own eyes. I could see and experience the love that they have for God and His Son. I was able to see Christ reflected on their lives and God’s love in their hearts.

Everyone that I meet filled me with love and blessings. They all fed me physically and spiritually. I was able to have a little taste of heaven while I was in Santa Clara, Cuba.
On Friday we had a little meeting with the preachers and there I talked about the ILEB. They got so interested and so exited about the way ILEB works that they want to start studding as soon as we find a way to solve the economical problems that we have to face to make this work possible. Saturday we had a meeting with a group of about 15 people, and we studied a little bit about how to prepare a bible study. On Sunday we had worship services, which were very encouraging. The brothering in Cuba wants to be in contact with the brothering around the world. In the evening we had another study with a group that used to be Baptist. Their preacher died, so this group of only women looked for help in the Church of Chris. They wanted to have someone to teach them and guide them in the path of truth. During this bible study I had the opportunity to talk to them about the need of being baptized in the way the bible tells us to. On Monday we went to a city called Remedios, about 45 min outside of Santa Clara, there was a group of about 50 brothers and sisters that gather that day to welcome us. They showed me their love and their passion for God, and again they asked me to talk to the congregation. I stood up and talk to the congregation, even though I shouldn’t have because I don’t have a religious visa. I thought, “I’m leaving tomorrow if they want to deport me, so be it. Deport me because I was preaching God’s word.”
Thanks to God I wasn’t deported, instead, I was happy to see the faces of all my brothers. I know they were happy to be bale to share their love and passion for God with a Mexican brother.

I ask you to please keep the church in Cuba on your prayers. That God may help us to reach out to them and enjoy the love and brotherhood that we have with them. Please pray for the preachers in Cuba so that they can find economical support so that they can preach full time on their community.

As well I ask you to pray for ILEB so that we can expand and open a few schools in Cuba.

Pray for my family, my daughter Alin is graduating in May from Culinary school and for Jaret who has one of the students with the best grades at his School.
Roberto and Bety Zepeda